Envelope



W. KNITTEL ENVELOPE Filed DeG. 2l, 1961 June 30, 1964 United Statesv Patent 3,139,230 ENVELOPE Werner Knittel, Hannover-Linden, Germany, assignor to Vereinigte Papierwarenfabrik Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Munich, Germany i Filed Dec. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 161,141 Claims priority, application Denmark Dec. 21, 1960 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-76) The present invention Vrelates to an envelope such as used for printed material, more particularly, to an envelope having a protected slot in one end of the envelope so as to permit ready access to the interior of the envelope by the postal authorities in order to inspect the contents of the envelope.

Many forms of envelopes have previously been devised which have particular .constructions embodied therein in order to facilitate postal inspection of the contents of the envelopes. Such envelopes generally comprise slots in the envelope provided by the sender by a partial sealing of the envelope. have been relatively complicated and hence expensive to manufacture in order to provide an envelope seal which, at the same time, will protect the contents of the envelope but which may be readily opened by the postal authorities.

In addition, such envelopes as have been previously proposed have such complex flap constructions in order to provide for a partial closing of the envelope that, in many cases, it is diflicult for the sender to accurately make a partial closing of the envelope and, as a result, the desired opening for postal inspection is not formed.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved envelope which facilitates postal inspection of the contents thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an envelope wherein the postal inspection slot is already built into the envelope by the manufacturer thereof and has a conventional flap for sealing the envelope.

The disadvantages of prior art envelopes are eliminated and the objects of the present invention are achieved by the envelope of the present invention which essentially comprises a postal inspection slot at one end of the' envelope and the conventional opening at the other end of the envelope through which material may be inserted therein. The conventional opening is provided with the usual flap which may be folded over this opening and sealed to the envelope to close it.

The postal inspection slot, however, is completely covered by a flap which, however, is so fastened to a wall of the envelope that this end of the envelope may be folded over to permit ready access into the interior of the envelope through this postal'inspection slot. this slot is completely covered, the printed material in the envelope is protected. In addition, this inspection slot is formed into the envelope by the manufacturer thereof and it is not necessary for the user of the envelope to close the same in any particular manner in order to provide for the inspection slot. The user merely seals the envelope in the conventional way after the contents have been inserted therein and the postal inspection slot already exists in the envelope since this inspection slot is at the opposite end of the envelope which was sealed by the user.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent upon reference to the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the drawing which shows in plan view an unsealed envelope according to the present invention.

The envelope is indicated at 1 and comprises Walls Most of these arrangements k3,139,230 Patented June 30, 1964 ice 2 and 3 which are connected along one edge by a fold 4 and along the opposed edge by a flap 5. Wall 3, of course, isl notvisible since it is behind wall 2.

One end of the envelope 6 is open in the conventional manner and comprises a flap 7 which extends from one end of the wall 3. The flap 7 has a self-sealing adhesive layer l8 which cooperates with a similar self-sealing adhesive layer 9 on the outer surface of the envelope Wall 2. v

Asa modification, the self-sealing adhesivey layers 8 and 9 can be eliminated and a single gummed zone provided on the flap 7 inthe conventional manner which gummed zone must be moistened in order `to effect a sealing of the flap 7 with the envelope wall.

The postal inspection slot is formed in the other end of the envelope, indicated at 10. The end of envelope wall 2 at the end of the envelope 10 terminates short of the envelope end, as indicated at 11, and the ends of this envelope end 11 are cut out as shown at 12 and 13.

A flap 14 is provided which extends from the end of envelope Wall 3. The flap 14 is folded over the envelope end in a manner as shown in the drawing and fastened to the inner surface of envelope wall 3 by an adhesive applied to the shaded zone indicated at 15. Thus, the flap 14 is not fastened in any way to the wall 2 but extends over the end 11 of the wall 2 to protect and cover this end.

The postal inspection slot is thus formed between the end 11 of the wall 2 and the Wall 3.

In order to gain access to the interior of the envelope after the flap 7 has been sealed, it is only necessary to bend the end of the envelope 10 in such a manner that the ap 14 will be bent away from the envelope wall 2 and thereby will uncover the postal inspection slot. Thus, in essence, the slot is actually formed between the inner surface of the ap 14 and the outer surface of the envelope wall 2 at the end 10 of the envelope.

When the envelope is provided to the user, it may be in the form as shown in the drawing. Thus, it is only necessary for the user to insert the material into the envelope and to seal the flap 7 in the conventional manner. The postal inspection slot has already been formed in the envelope by the manufacturer thereof. It is therefore not necessary for the user to employ any special machinery or apparatus for sealing the envelope in order to provide an adequate postal inspection slot.

Thus, the envelope of the present invention is so constructed so as to have separate and independent structures for inserting the material into the envelope and for inspecting the contents of the envelope after the envelope has been sealed. Although these two openings are shown to be positioned at opposite ends of the envelope, this arrangementl is not necessary and other arrangements of these openings can be used for particular applications.

While it is preferable that the envelope be manufactured in the form as illustrated and described above, the envelope can be provided to the user with both flaps unsealed. Since the adhesive at the postal inspection slot end of the envelope is arranged in a particular manner, the user himself may close the inspection end ofv the envelope in the conventional Way and will ensure that an adequate postal inspection slot will be provided.

It will be understood that this invention'is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as 'this invention is:

l. An envelope comprising a pair of walls with one edge of one wallterminating short of the corresponding edge of the other wall and another pair of corresponding edges said Walls being open, said one edge of said one wall having cut-outV portions at the ends thereof, a first ap on an edge of said another pair of edges, said flap having aY self-sealing adhesive layer which cooperates with a self-sealing adhesive layer on an outer surfacev wall of the envelope, a second ap on said corresponding edge of said, other Wall folded overV said short edge of said one wall, said second ap being adhesively united adhered only to those portions of said inner surface of said other Wall uncovered by the shorter edge and cut-out portions of said one'wall so as to dene a slotted opening into said envelope between said second flap and said one wall.

2. An envelope comprising ka pair of Walls with one edge of one Wall terminating short of the corresponding edge of the other Wall and another pair of corresponding edges of said walls being open, said one edge of said one Wall having cut-out portions at the ends `thereoila irst flap on an edge of said another pair of edges, said Hap having a self-sealing adhesive layer which cooperates d with la self-sealing adhesive layer on an outer surface Wall of the envelope, a second flap on said corresponding edge of said other wall folded over said short edge of said one Wall of the envelope, said second flap being Vadhesively united only to those portions of said inner surface of said. other Wall `uncovered by the shorter edge and cut-out portions of said one Wall so as to define a slotted opening to provide a postal inspection slot for said envelope between said second ap and said one Wall.

References Cited in the lerof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany June 30, 

1. AN ENVELOPE COMPRISING A PAIR OF WALLS WITH ONE EDGE OF ONE WALL TERMINATING SHORT OF THE CORRESPONDING EDGE OF THE OTHER WALL AND ANOTHER PAIR OF CORRESPONDING EDGES SAID WALLS BEING OPEN, SAID ONE EDGE OF SAID ONE WALL HAVING CUT-OUT PORTIONS AT THE ENDS THEREOF, A FIRST FLAP ON AN EDGE OF SAID ANOTHER PAIR OF EDGES, SAID FLAP HAVING A SELF-SEALING ADHESIVE LAYER WHICH COOPERATES WITH A SELF-SEALING ADHESIVE LAYER ON AN OUTER SURFACE WALL OF THE ENVELOPE, A SECOND FLAP ON SAID CORRESPONDING EDGE OF SAID OTHER WALL FOLDED OVER SAID SHORT EDGE OF SAID ONE WALL, SAID SECOND FLAP BEING ADHESIVELY UNITED ADHERED ONLY TO THOSE PORTIONS OF SAID INNER SURFACE OF SAID OTHER WALL UNCOVERED BY THE SHORTER EDGE AND CUT-OUT PORTIONS OF SAID ONE WALL SO AS TO DEFINE A SLOTTED OPENING INTO SAID ENVELOPE BETWEEN SAID SECOND FLAP AND SAID ONE WALL. 